St. Patrick's Day dessert ideas

CHICAGO (WLS) -- St. Patrick's Day is nearly here, and it just wouldn't be a holiday without a few tasty treats to pass around. This year, you can try your hand at some festive delicacies with a kick. Anna and Maria Majewski from the Sugar Hills Bakery stopped by our ABC7 Studios to show us how.

Links:

http://www.sugarhillsbakery.com/

http://facebook.com/people/@/159304086547

http://twitter.com/sugarhillschi

https://instagram.com/sugarhillschi/

Recipes:

Appletini Cupcakes

Cupcake ingredients:

1/2 cup chunky applesauce

2 tablespoons salted butter at room temperature

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup apple cider

3 Tablespoons apple vodka

Frosting ingredients:

2 Sticks Butter (maybe an additional tablespoon or 2 if you like a lot of frosting) slightly soft

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 drop of green food color

2 tea spoons of Spirytus 192 proof alcohol

1 table spoon of sour apple schnapps

(in ounces, cups, etc., NOT grams/ liters) and cooking instructions.***

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a separate bowl. Set aside.

3. Cream butter and applesauce for 20-30 seconds.

4. Add sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy.

5. Add eggs and vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl as needed, beat mixture until light and uniform.

6. Add sour cream. mix til combined.

7. Mix milk and cider in separate bowl. Set aside.

8. Turn mixer to lowest speed, and alternate one third of the dry ingredients with 1/3 milk/cider mixture. Alternate until both ingredients are added in full.

9. Add the booze. I usually use "heaping" tablespoons.

10. Pour batter into cupcake liners, about 3/4 of the way to the top.

11. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

12. Remove from pans and move to cooling trays (this may seem silly but it actually stops the cake from sticking to the bottom of the wrapper. No cooling trays? At the very least turn them skewed in the tins to let the cool air get to the bottom.)

****ONCE COOLED***

1. In an electric stand mixer start by whipping butter.

2. Gradually add sugar. It's been recommended to me to add a tablespoon at a time, this can take a while but really worth it. Helps to integrate the sugar into the butter better and when done right can save you some sugar in the long run.

3. Add the booze. Alcohol amount can be adjusted to your liking.

4. If desired add food coloring.

5. Add garnish as desired. (cherry's or sprinkles)

Irish Cream Chocolate Trifle

Ingredients:

1 package devil's food cake mix (regular size

1 cup of Irish Coffee Cream

2 1/2 cups cold milk

2 packages (3.9 ounces each) instant chocolate pudding mix

3 cups whipped topping

12 mint candies, chopped

Preparation:

1. Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using a greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.

2. With a meat fork or wooden skewer, carefully poke holes in cake about 2 inches apart. Slowly pour Irish cream over cake; refrigerate for 1 hour.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.

4. Cut cake into 1-1/2-inch cubes; place a third of the cubes in a 3-quart glass bowl. Top with a third of the pudding, whipped topping and candies; repeat layers twice. Store in the refrigerator.

Yield: 16 servings.